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Two Metro Vancouver tech workers have launched a Google-inspired commuter bus club that’s turning their daily journey from Surrey into working hours on a deluxe coach complete with coffee service, wireless Internet and all the perks of a mobile office.

Chris Geoghegan and Darian Kovacs, founders of Pacific Commuter, were inspired to create the deluxe commuting club by the Google bus — Google’s own shuttle service to its Mountain View headquarters ferries 3,500 employees to work every day in leather-seated, wirelessly connected comfort.

“This is a business we started out of frustration,” said Kovacs, who works in the same Coal Harbour office as Geoghegan. “Chris has young children, I have a five-year-old son, we’d like to spend more time with our families.

“I usually leave home at 6:45 in the morning to get to work for 8:30 and I try to leave around 5:30 and I get home at 7 or 7:15. Our kids are in bed by 8 o’clock so it’s a bummer.

“We wanted to use that commuting time to get work done so we could spend more time at home.”

The service, which starts a three-month pilot Tuesday, will pick up commuters in the morning starting with a 7:25 a.m. stop in Langley then make stops in Surrey, arriving at the Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver at 8:35 with a couple of other stops downtown.

Rather than jostling for a seat on crowded transit trains or buses, or driving in traffic, the commuters will cruise along in reclining leather seats, sipping lattes and working on desktops that flip down in front of each seat. The bathroom counter is marble-topped, there are 11 screens for overhead movie viewing, a kitchenette and a quiet area for making phone calls.

The bus leaves Vancouver just after 5 p.m., reaching its last stop in Langley close to 6:30. Commuters can bring their bikes with them and the commuter club’s annual fee includes a Car2Go membership and a 30-minute credit in the short-hop car-sharing service.

So far 14 commuters have signed up for the club; with 42 seats on the bus, Kovacs said 35 members would be considered enough to make the project succeed.

“We have three months to test it,” he said. “Our goal is to have 35 people by Oct. 1 but we expect we’ll have more than that and we hope to have two or three buses going by the fall.

“As new members come on we’ll add different pickup times and different locations.”

Kovacs and Geoghegan figured if they could turn their commuting time into part of their working day, they’d have more time at home.

Already Geoghegan is reaching his goal — his boss told him if he works during his commute, adding an extra two hours to his working day from Monday to Thursday, he can take Fridays off to be home with his kids.

“Everyone is happy,” said Kovacs. “It’s great for reducing stress and it’s great for the environment.”

At a monthly membership fee of $495 or $395 paid annually, the Pacific Commuter isn’t aimed at transit users, who typically pay $151 for a regular adult monthly transit pass that would enable travel from Surrey and Langley to Vancouver.

Instead, Geoghegan and Kovacs are hoping to get people out of their cars — a more expensive commute that can cost more than $500 a month by the time you take into account the cost of rising gas prices and parking.

Added to that is the stress of commuting.

“I can’t get any work done on transit so it’s just wasted time for me,” said Kovacs. “On the bus I can work on my computer, I can make business calls because there’s a quiet spot for phoning.

“People who can bill for their time can get in extra working hours.”

Kovacs said the commuter club is attracting Web developers, accountants, lawyers — anyone who can work as long as they have a computer and an Internet connection.

Some commuters who don’t need to be in Vancouver five days a week are opting to share memberships, a preference Kovacs said Pacific Commuter may recognize with part-time membership fees.

“Human resources departments are going crazy over this,” said Kovacs. “They’re looking at buying packages of six to 20 for their employees. We’ll give special rates for that as well.”

Geoghegan and Kovacs contacted Google to tell the Silicon Valley company its employee buses inspired them to launch the Pacific Commuter club.

“They were like — it sounds awesome, keep up the good work,” said Kovacs.

Kovacs said the bus is chartered by the commuter club just as people hire limos or buses for graduations or other special events.

For more information, their website is pacificcommuter.com

gshaw@vancouversun.comvancouversun.com/digitallife

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Google-inspired commuter bus hoping to lure people out of their cars with its luxury mobile office

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